Artone BT neckloop features that are important to me

[Mary Beth]

-great audio for speech 

-can be worn and used under a shirt

-very small and light

-excellent range:  can leave the phone in the living room and stream while moving all around the house

-truly hands free for phone calls: answer the call, built in mic to pick up our voice, end the call… all without touching the phone 

-everything can be accessed via the neckloop…. No need to touch the phone once streaming…. Which allows us to pause streaming and resume streaming etc without needing to touch the phone

-ability to choose MT (50/50 mix, T 100/0 mix so streamed audio only or for bilateral CI/HA users the ability to set one side on MT and the other side on T for closer to 75/25 mix)

-streams fine in pants pocket outside to both sides

-compatible with a wide variety of devices in addition to phone and tablet

It really is a great fit for me.  I use two so always have one charged up when/if the battery runs low.

 

 

 

[Andrew42]

@MaryBeth, you are a veritable fount of knowledge. Thank you. I have a few questions for you about Artone 3:

1. To work with Rondo 3 does the Rondo 3 need its Telecoil adapter connected? Reading Artone blurb it would seem likely.

2. Have you ever used it with a Rondo 3?

3. If I were to acquire Artone 3 can I effectively ditch Audiolink for all things hearing, (I find it unbelievably clunky and out-of-date>? I recognise that I may still need it for control/battery level enquiries etc.

4. Can Artone 3 and Audiolink be used concurrently?

Thank you and I hope the chemo is going well for you, (or as well as anyone can expect).

 

[Mary Beth]

@Andrew42

I do not have Rondo3.

Artone requires the use of telecoil so we must be in MT or T setting.  Unfortunately Rondo3 does not have telecoil built into the processor.  At this time, the other Med-El CI processors do have built in telecoil.  So yes, Rondo3 requires the use of the telecoil adapter.

It is important to note that Rondo3 users have reported a ticking sound when using the telecoil adapter.  Med-El suggests putting Rondo3 into flight mode when using the telecoil adapter.

Rondo3 does not have a MT nor T function button like the other Med-El CI processors do.  So it is set at 50/50 mix UNLESS we have our audiologists design a MAP with a different mix ratio in a program slot.

AudioLink is not a good match for me.  I have never tried using it simultaneously with the Artone.

 

By itself the Artone connects and streams all audio via BT.  There is an optional Artone Mic to clip on a speaker and an optional Artone TVB to connect to TV.

Here is my captioned review of Artone.  I have been using mine for 6 years ever since Med-El introduced me to it.

 

[Lauren]

21 hours ago, Andrew42 said:

@MaryBeth, you are a veritable fount of knowledge. Thank you. I have a few questions for you about Artone 3:

1. To work with Rondo 3 does the Rondo 3 need its Telecoil adapter connected? Reading Artone blurb it would seem likely.

2. Have you ever used it with a Rondo 3?

3. If I were to acquire Artone 3 can I effectively ditch Audiolink for all things hearing, (I find it unbelievably clunky and out-of-date>? I recognise that I may still need it for control/battery level enquiries etc.

4. Can Artone 3 and Audiolink be used concurrently?

Thank you and I hope the chemo is going well for you, (or as well as anyone can expect).

 

@Andrew42 on your #3 note, if you have a smartphone you can use that as the control for Rondo 3. As long as your Rondo is connected directly in AudioKey2 you can tap on the Rondo icon and see battery info. If you have it connected via AudioLink the app will only show you the AudioLink’s battery. I leave my AudioLink at home as I only use it for TV streaming and I have zero issues adjusting volume/sensitivity/programs with just my phone and Rondo 3. I rarely have need to use the remote that came in my kit. They’re laying about somewhere. 🙂

(to stream audio or phone calls you’d still need the AudioLink of course). Definitely don’t recommend the T-Coil adapter. The ticking is constant and can be heard even when streaming audio. I lasted maybe five seconds before scrambling to get it off. 

[Mary Beth]

@Lauren

Did you try putting your Rondo3 in flight mode when you used the telecoil adapter to stop the ticking?  It’s inconvenient but users are reporting that the ticking stops.

[Andrew42]

2 hours ago, Lauren said:

@Andrew42 on your #3 note, if you have a smartphone you can use that as the control for Rondo 3. As long as your Rondo is connected directly in AudioKey2 you can tap on the Rondo icon and see battery info. If you have it connected via AudioLink the app will only show you the AudioLink’s battery. I leave my AudioLink at home as I only use it for TV streaming and I have zero issues adjusting volume/sensitivity/programs with just my phone and Rondo 3. I rarely have need to use the remote that came in my kit. They’re laying about somewhere. 🙂

(to stream audio or phone calls you’d still need the AudioLink of course). Definitely don’t recommend the T-Coil adapter. The ticking is constant and can be heard even when streaming audio. I lasted maybe five seconds before scrambling to get it off. 

Thank you. My aim in life is to ditch Audiolink unless they improve it. To me it is out-of-date technology, cumbersome and should be unnecessary . I can't stream our TV because Audiolink is too old to accept digital input and our TV system (ten years old)  no longer has analog output and I'm not interested in adding a converter that needs real estate and power. . However the only way for me to receive telephone calls into my Rondo is to use Audiolink and If, as I do, I like to get notifications and haptics in my ear via my iPhone I need Audio2Ear as well.

Incidentally I can and do review my Rondo battery status on my iPhone. To to do that I go into Audiolink click my name and change the setting from Audiolink to Direct, hit the three line menu and select Listening Settings and click Connected. After thinking about it for a while my screen will show the current battery status. It is not absolutely accurate because If I hit Close and then Connected again I often get a different number: but it is good enough for my purposes.

[Mary Beth]

@Andrew42

Have you tried just holding your phone up to your Rondo3 mics yet?  It takes a bit of practice but some users like taking phone calls that way.

I decided it was important for me to be able to take calls by holding any phone up to my processor mics (both Rondo and Sonnet) in case I was in a situation that required it.  So I practiced until I was comfortable with it.

Just a thought.

[Lauren]

4 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

@Lauren

Did you try putting your Rondo3 in flight mode when you used the telecoil adapter to stop the ticking?  It’s inconvenient but users are reporting that the ticking stops.

Yes and it does work for using T-Coil. But at the same time it doesn’t allow using any remote to change settings and to connect to AudioLink. 

[Andrew42]

8 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

@Andrew42

Have you tried just holding your phone up to your Rondo3 mics yet?  It takes a bit of practice but some users like taking phone calls that way.

I decided it was important for me to be able to take calls by holding any phone up to my processor mics (both Rondo and Sonnet) in case I was in a situation that required it.  So I practiced until I was comfortable with it.

Just a thought.

No I haven't. At my stage of development with my Rondo and Audiolink I find it easier to hear phone calls via the iPhone speaker phone than directly into my Rondo as Audiolink seems to reduce the clarity. I will try what you say and see if I can find how to position the phone.

[Evren]

I’m trying bilateral streaming with artone 3 max but I’m unable to switch to true stereo mode. All settings are correct on my phone and I can go stereo on my over the ear headphones but with artone I can only have mono (equal sound output on either sides)

any ideas?

[Mary Beth]

@Evren

That is correct.  All neckloops are bilateral mono.

[Mary Beth]

@Evren

That’s one reason why I state that I like the Artone for streaming speech.

Check this out for listening to music with Rondo 3.  Click on the gray arrow to follow the link.

 

[Evren]

6 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

@Evren

That’s one reason why I state that I like the Artone for streaming speech.

Check this out for listening to music with Rondo 3.  Click on the gray arrow to follow the link.

 

Ah I already have cozy phones, because I watched your video  It's great. Comfy when working out. But not stylish enough to use when I'm at office, you know. Still thanks a lot  

[Jimit]

Audio Link is surely an outdated device but I found is really helpful with all kind of streaming with Rondo 3. I only bought one digital to analog converter and optical cable to stream my TV through Audio link. 

Mobile streaming (phone calls) works flawlessly while connecting to audio link using Bluetooth. It might not give a good range like other Bluetooth devices out there but enough to do a audio/video call comfortably.

For streaming music from mobile I use the cable provided in the kit to link mobile and Audio link. The sound quality is good enough to enjoy the music. Audio2ear app is just crap which they claims to use for streaming audio over Bluetooth without wires. I found the audio quality is drastically reduced with audio2ear app and it keep disconnecting. But streaming with cable is good enough for me atleast for now. I started listening music during hour long walks as well using the same cable setup. Have to mute the processor to hear music clearly while out in traffic but definitely better than no music at all. 😛

To stream from laptop, I just need to connect audio link using Bluetooth, no cable needed here. The sound quality is just awesome.

Overall audio link is bang for the bucks. 🙂

[Mary Beth]

@Jimit

For me AudioLink has problems with streaming to both my processors at the same time.  It seems like my head creates a block as I move around.  

[Jimit]

Yes @Mary Beth it might not be good with streaming to both processor. I too face such issue when I move my face in a direction that increases the distance from processor and audio link. 

I have to clip audio link right below processor on my shirt collar to make it work smoothly while on walk. The Bluetooth range is a serious issue with audio link.

[Mary Beth]

@Jimit

I agree with you